


Chocolate

by Nightwood



Category: Nightwood
Genre: Chocolate, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-19
Updated: 2014-10-19
Packaged: 2018-02-21 20:35:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2481533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nightwood/pseuds/Nightwood
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Daniel worked behind the counter at the local chocolate shop. It wasn't that exciting nor glamorous, but it made for a nice summer job to make some extra cash. One particular regular - a boy about his age - stood out to Daniel the most. Though the boy always brought a large group of friends with him to the shop, Daniel would swear that the two of them would exchange meaningful glances. But he knew such thoughts were juvenile; just wishful fancy.</p><p>One day, the green-eyed beau came in alone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Chocolate

**Author's Note:**

  * For [VeinsOfOpal](https://archiveofourown.org/users/VeinsOfOpal/gifts).



        Daniel worked behind the counter at the local chocolate shop. It wasn't that exciting nor glamorous, but it made for a nice summer job to make some extra cash. Being a confectionery, the shop acquired a few weekly regulars. They came in all sorts of shapes and sizes, but one stood out to Daniel the most. This regular - a boy - was tall like him, and about the same age as him as well. He had high cheekbones, almond shaped eyes that shone a startling green at the irises, and smooth hair that was colored an unusual shade of burgundy. Natural or not, the color seemed to fit the boy just as perfectly as his slim black slacks and his white long sleeve dress shirt. How terribly harrowing it was that the boy always had to carelessly roll up the sleeves. How deliriously torturous that those top two shirt buttons never seemed to find their way to being properly fastened over the top of the boy's chest!  
  
        Suffice it to say that Daniel tried his best not to stare.  
  
        Oftentimes, this regular would come in with a group of similarly dressed school friends, scouring the shop and buying up alarmingly copious amounts of chocolate at one time. Daniel's manager /loved/ that group. Daniel liked them too. He liked listening to their stories and their silly little arguments about the nutrition facts on the backs of the packages and their various remarks about the weather in Albania and good golly, were all private school kids this strange? If only Daniel had the money to go where they go, then he could be strange and fun with them. But of course, he remained a silent voyeur to this whirlwind boy and his whirlwind group that so often swept through the shop. Sometimes he would get the strange feeling that the pretty green-eyed boy was watching right back. But when Daniel looked up, those searching emeralds were merely trained on the chocolate display on the wall behind the counter. Daniel would swear that he and that boy had exchanged meaningful glances, but just as soon dismiss such thoughts as juvenile, wishful fancy.  
  
        One day, the green-eyed beau came in alone. Daniel almost didn't notice him. He was so used to the boy bringing an overwhelming surge of life into the shop with him that he didn't even expect to see the burgundy-haired visitor unless there was a lot of noise. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard /that/ voice.  
  
        "Do they _make_ you wear your hair up like that?"  
  
        Daniel nearly dropped his broom in his haste to _not_ drop the broom. After a short moment of fumbling, it fell anyway and made an embarrassing clatter on the floor's surface. He disappeared behind the counter to pick it up. The boy leaned over the marbled surface to frown down at him in puzzlement, only to have Daniel nearly bonk heads with him back on his way up from rescuing the fallen broom. "UM."  
  
        The boy cocked his head to the side, unperturbed by the near collision. "Um?"  
  
        Daniel touched a calloused hand to the confined ebony strands on his head. "Uh, yes. Yes I do have to wear my hair back... So it doesn't get in the chocolate."  
  
        The boy leaned back, carefully tapping one long index finger against his lips with a thoughtful nod. "Mmm, yes, that _would_ be quite catastrophic." Daniel couldn't tell if he was being serious or not. "How long is it when it's down?"  
  
        "It touches my shoulders." Okay, was he seriously having a conversation with Green Eyes about his _hair_?? This seemed like some joke dream that he would wake up from in a few minutes and groan over.  
  
        "Can I see?"  
  
        "I... I really shouldn't..."  
  
        The boy gave a cheerful laugh, crossing his arms over the tall glass case between them and leaning his thin chin against them. "How cute, following the rules so closely!" Daniel blushed. Gosh dang, he wished he could cover his face! Green Eyes did not seem to notice; or if he did, he didn't care to rub it in. Instead he shifted the conversation to other things. They chatted for a while, mostly about chocolate. Soon, Daniel began to relax and he actually began to legitimately enjoy this exchange. Talking to his favorite customer was even better than sneaking glances at him through the cracks in between the friends that surrounded him. Soon, they got to comparing all the different types of chocolate each of them had tasted in their lifetime. The boy seemed so sure that he had to teach Daniel a thing or two about _some_ sort of chocolate, but Daniel's summer job had already taken care of that. Mildly exasperated, the boy turned his gaze away from Daniel to glance about the shop. "Well, which of these _haven't_ you tried?"  
  
        For a moment Daniel was quiet, his lips letting out a sigh as his mismatched blue and amber eyes swept over each shelf and display case in search of something that would be unfamiliar to his taste buds. "Ummm, that one," he finally answered, pointing to a fancifully decorated truffle in a glass case.

        "So you've never had that one? You don't know what it tastes like?"

        "Well, it's just chocolate and all, but... no, I guess not."

        "Great, I'll have that one then."  
  
        Daniel blinked. Oh yeah, the guy was here to buy chocolate. Duh. Chocolate shop and all... He'd become so absorbed in their conversation that he'd forgotten about that aspect of their surroundings. Still, it was somewhat disappointing to think that all of the attention Daniel had gotten in the past several minutes had only been connected to the goodies he was supposed to be selling. Ah, well...  
  
        The two met at the cash register and Green Eyes pulled out his card, swiping it through the machine and punching the necessary buttons with an obvious air of familiarity. He'd only done this, oh, _eleventy-two zillion times_ since the start of summer, after all. Daniel went to the case and retrieved a truffle. While he was there, his eyes fell on the chocolate-covered pretzel sticks next to him. _It wouldn't hurt... just this once..._ He slipped two sticks into the bag. Green Eyes wouldn't even find out until he got home, right?  
  
        He charged the boy for the truffle and handed him the bag. Upon receiving his prize, the burgundy-haired beaut's hand promptly dived into the bag. Daniel froze. The boy froze. He frowned, wiggling his fingers around the unexpected shape and then pulling out a long, chocolate covered pretzel stick.  
  
        Daniel DIED. The boy smiled. He didn't say a word as he eyed the wide-eyed clerk behind the counter, twiddling the offending stick between his long, slender fingers like a chocolate baton. Suddenly he caught the stick between his forefinger and thumb, his green eyes practically laughing at the frozen Daniel as the boy kept their gazes locked and lifted the stick to his mouth. His tongue touched to the tip. It moved carefully, curiously running over a small portion of the stick's surface before he brought it past his lips and gave it a delicate bite. Daniel felt like a big, stupid chocolate puddle, melting away under that mesmerizing gaze as though _he_ were the one being toyed with under the delicate ministrations of those sprightly fingers. The boy chewed thoughtfully, assessing the small gift with a critical air and then replacing the remainder of the stick back into the bag. He smiled his approval... and his utter amusement.  
  
        As Green Eyes lifted the truffle out of the bag next, part of Daniel urged him to get back to work. He had already embarrassed himself enough for one day, but he really wanted to stay and find out if his favorite customer at least liked the mysterious truffle. Green Eyes took a bite. He chewed, his sharp green gaze wandering as his mind focused exclusively on the taste. A hum of appreciation reverberated within his throat. Daniel smiled.  
  
       Suddenly, a slender hand reached out and curled into the fabric of Daniel's shirt collar. He let out a gasp, eyes going wide again as the slender creature before him pulled him into an unexpectedly deep kiss. The boy's thin lips moved confidently and fluidly, another noise echoing from the back of his throat as though _Daniel_ were the chocolate now. His lips were the confection, his tongue the soothing aftertaste, and the boy savored it all and expressed it all with that one, meaningful groan. Daniel's mind went blank. What could he do? He returned the kiss. The green-eyed boy's free hand went to the side of Daniel's face, gently sliding over his cheek and sending fire hot signals to his tingling nerves. The delicate fingers danced ever further, sliding through Daniel's hair and hooking over the elastic band. Daniel felt the band tug loose and then fall away, snapping onto the other boy's wrist as Daniel's hair drifted freely to come to rest over his shoulders. Daniel gave an ecstatic shudder. The boy, with one arm draped over Daniel's shoulder, pulled a little more from the kiss before he finally broke away and allowed the two of them to resurface back into reality.  
  
       Daniel let out a pant. The boy's face was still very close, his green eyes only half-open now. Those piercing orbs slid from Daniel's bi-colored gaze to the silky hair that now framed his face. It seemed his request to see Daniel's hair had been fulfilled after all. He lifted his slender arm from the clerk's shoulder, curiously running his fingers through the ebony strands in order to pull a small section to its full length. Daniel did not move. He could smell the scent of honey radiating from the boy leaning across the counter, but even more prevalent was the taste of chocolate truffle in Daniel's mouth. Green Eyes gave a satisfied half-grin as his own tongue dragged over the corner of his mouth to rescue some left over chocolate that rested there. Daniel felt slender fingers deposit the emancipated hair tie into the palm of his hand, but his dazed mind hardly noticed.  
  
        The mischievous creature's voice rose up in a gentle murmur, curling around Daniel like soft tendrils of wispy smoke: "Now you know."  
  
        And then he was gone.  
  
        On the counter before Daniel, the half dazed and completely bewildered clerk found one single slip of paper with a phone number and a name written on the back: William.  
         
        ...Daniel had never added a new contact to his phone so fast in his _life_.


End file.
